The Creative Process

I just finished teaching a group of young filmmakers at Freshi Film Camp / Hollywood - Freshi's annual filmmaking experience for young filmmakers. It's a small camp, in which we divided the group into two teams by age. I had the teens, ranging from 14-17 years old.

One of the reasons I liked filmmaking as a teen was related to the opportunity to be a leader - and to lead a team. I really wasn't involved in team sports, so I created my own teams through my filmmaking projects (or attempts at filmmaking projects - it really was about getting together and being creative).

At the film camp, I worked with five teens - two were on a cultural exchange from Palestine; one was a passionate young filmmaker on his 4th camp with us (over two years!); his friend, an aspiring director; and still another came in from across the country. They all had visions and expectations of what they wanted to accomplish - but for some, it was the first opportunity to work with a team of like-minded people. From my personal experience, creative collaboration can be volatile and frustrating. The filmmakers experienced some of those moments - but in the end they succeeded and completed their film. Somehow, all the drama makes the achievement that much more satisfying.

Watching the kids reminded me of the love-hate relationship I have with the creative process. I hate the drama along the way - but I love the result of the "creative tension" that accompanies so many great projects.